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how do passages like acts 10, concerning peter's vision, extend or clarify this teaching on clean and unclean?

The passage, plainly, with room to sit with it.

Acts 10:13-15

A voice came to him, “Rise, Peter, kill and eat!” But Peter said, “Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean.” The voice spoke to him again the second time, “What God has cleansed, you must not call unclean.”

This passage describes a vision Peter, a Jewish apostle, receives while staying in Joppa. Before this, Peter adhered strictly to Jewish dietary laws. The vision, repeated three times, challenges his understanding of what is 'clean' and 'unclean' and prepares him for an encounter with Cornelius, a Gentile (non-Jewish) Roman centurion.

What old assumptions about belonging or purity might need to be re-examined today?

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Read alongside it

  • Leviticus 11:4-8

    This passage details some of the Jewish dietary laws that Peter would have been following.

  • Acts 10:28

    Peter later connects the vision directly to his changed understanding of associating with Gentiles.

  • Galatians 2:11-14

    Paul confronts Peter for withdrawing from Gentiles due to pressure from Jewish Christians, showing the ongoing tension.

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